before 1000;1955-60for def 7a;Middle English (noun and v.); Old Englishblǣst (noun) a blowing; akin to Old Norseblāstr,Old High Germanblāst (derivative of blāsan, cognate with Gothicufblēsan,Old Norseblāsa). See blow2

Meaning "explosion" is from 1630s; that of "noisy party, good time" is from 1953, American English slang. Sense of "strong current of air for iron-smelting" (1690s) led to blast furnace and transferred sense in full blast "the extreme" (1839). Blast was the usual word for "a smoke of tobacco" c.1600.

v.

Old English blæstan "to blow, belch forth," from the root of blast (n.). Since 16c., often "to breathe on balefully." Meaning "to blow up by explosion" is from 1758. Related: Blasted; blasting. Blast off (n.) is attested from 1950.

The Dictionary of American Slang, Fourth Edition by Barbara Ann Kipfer, PhD. and Robert L. Chapman, Ph.D.Copyright (C) 2007 by HarperCollins Publishers.Cite This Source

blast in Technology

1. BLT, used especially for large data sends over a network or comm line. Opposite of snarf. Usage: uncommon. The variant "blat" has been reported. 2. [HP/Apollo] Synonymous with nuke. Sometimes the message "Unable to kill all processes. Blast them (y/n)?" would appear in the command window upon logout.